Muhammad Ali: Anti-War Civil Rights Activist | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
Muhammad Ali: Anti-War Civil Rights Activist
On Friday, June 3, boxing great Muhammad Ali died at age 74 in Phoenix after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Over time, it eroded his motor skills and ability to speak
coherently. His wife Lonnie said even though his speech was impaired,
“he sp(oke) to people with his eyes…with his heart, and they connect(ed)
with him.”
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., he joined the Nation of Islam in
1964, rejected what he called his “slave name.” Muhammad Ali replaced
it. In 1975, he converted to Sunni Islam after Nation of Islam leader
Elijah Muhammad died.
He refused army induction during the Vietnam war, publicly calling
himself a conscientious objector, famously saying “I ain’t got no
quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.”
At his scheduled Houston army induction on April 28, 1967, he refused three times to step forward after his name was called.
Warned he was committing a felony, he stood firm. Arrest followed.
The New York State Athletic Commission stripped him of his boxing
license and world heavyweight championship title.
Other US boxing commissions followed suit. Ali couldn’t box anywhere
for over three years. On June 20, 1967, a jury found him guilty. An
appellate court upheld it.
Ali remained free pending the result of his Supreme Court appeal. On
June 28, 1971, the High Court unanimously ruled in his favor at a time
of nationwide anti-war activism – not based on his claims, because the
appellate court gave no reason for denying his right to conscientiously
object.
His conviction was reversed. He inspired Martin Luther King to voice
public opposition to the war. Famously he called America “(t)he greatest
purveyor of violence in the world – my own government. I cannot be
silent.”
Ali’s anti-war activism “robbed (him) of his best years, his prime years,” his trainer Angelo Dundee explained.
Perhaps his best remembered quotes were, saying “I am the greatest,” and “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
He’s less well-known for saying “I know I got it made while other
black folks are out there catchin hell, but as long as they ain’t free, I
ain’t free.”
